Enabling Wireless Streaming
Modern day
TVs are more interconnected than ever, supporting wireless streaming
technologies and standards such as DLNA and Miracast. These technologies make
it easy to share and stream media content from your PC, smartphone or tablet to
your TV. However, what about older TVs or displays that do not support these
wireless streaming technologies and standards?
Enjoy
all of your personal and online content on a big screen with a simple wireless
connection.
Enter the SMC
Networks SMCWTVA100 wireless TV adapter, a device which aims to let you stream
media content such as music, photos and movies from your PC, smartphone or
tablet, to your TV.
The
SMCWTVA100 wireless TV adapter is about the size of a large gaming-grade mouse
and offers both HDMI and AV composite outputs to be used with your TV. It also
features a single 10/100 Mbps LAN port that allows it to be hooked up to a
router, as well as a lone USB 2.0 port that can be used to play media content
off a fl ash drive or portable hard disk. The USB port is also used for firmware
updates.
Although the
SMCWTVA100 wireless TV adapter does not support the latest Wireless-AC
standard, it does support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. This is useful especially
if you use a lot of wireless devices as it allows users to avoid using the
congested 2.4GHz band.
The
SMCWTVA100 wireless TV adapter features four modes of operation: PC to TV mode,
Media Share Mode, Mirror PBC mode and Mirror PIN mode. The first mode lets you
mirror whatever is on your PC’s display onto your TV; the second lets you
stream content to it via an app called AirFun; and the final two modes lets you
mirror your Android devices’ display using Miracast, both with or without
password authentication.
Setup proved
to be a little tricky as the instruction manual that came with the device was
not very helpful. In addition, the device requires specialized software to work
and this was found only on the bundled CD, and oddly enough, not downloadable
off the manufacturer’s website.
The first two
modes are arguably the most useful. And since PC to TV mode mirrors your PC’s
displays, users need not worry about video format compatibility.
If you wish
to stream content from your Android or iOS smartphone or tablet, you would need
to use Media Share mode and download the AirFun app from their respective app
stores. AirFun is available for Windows too, so you can use your PC in this
mode as well.
After
downloading and installing AirFun, simply connect to the SMCWTVA100’s Wi-Fi
network and launch the app. The app will then automatically scan for compatible
devices.
Using
2.4/5GHz 2T2R 300 Mbps Wi-Fi provides
smooth wireless transmission
Overall
streaming performance was good, despite the advertised maximum signal rate of
just 300 Mbps, which sounds a little low. In our usage, we managed to stream
Full-HD quality videos smoothly with hardly any lag. Playback would also resume
swiftly after skipping to different sections of the video.
The SMC
SMCWTVA100 wireless TV adapter also supports playback from USB devices, but
this feature is moot because without a dedicated remote control, users can only
control the device’s menu by logging into the device’s configuration menu with
your PC. If that is the case, why not just stream directly from your PC using
either the device’s PC to TV or Media Share mode?
If
your mobile device or notbook support PCtoTV / Miracast technology,
you can mirror your display to a big screen using Wi-Fi.
To sum up,
the SMCWTVA100 wireless TV adapter works as advertised. However, setup can be a
little cumbersome especially for less tech savvy users. If you are willing to
overlook that, it is a useful device for enabling wireless streaming of media
content to TVs.
Specifications: ·
Wireless: 802.11
b/g/n ·
Operating
frequencies: 2.4GHz and 5GHz ·
Video output: 1080p
@ 30 FPS, HDMI Output, AV Output ·
Sound outpur: Stereo,
5.1-channel, HDMI Output (5.1-channel Stereo /Stereo), AV Output (Stereo) ·
Wireless: signal
rate up to 300Mbps ·
OS support:
Windows, Android, iOS ·
Price: $129
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